


Clarity

by fishfingersandjellybabies



Series: Red Hood!Dick AU [5]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 00:29:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4283772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishfingersandjellybabies/pseuds/fishfingersandjellybabies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I never wanted a legacy. Robin was mine, and mine alone."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clarity

**Author's Note:**

> While Dick might be mad about Bruce passing on the Robin name, I think he feels more guilty for it, because it’s his name, ideals and example that these kids are getting hurt/killed for.

“So what was it?” Jason asked.

“Hm?” Dick turned his eyes away from the sitting room, where Tim was fixing Damian’s bandages. He, Jason and Stephanie were leaning over the kitchen counter, rehydrating after Dick finally agreed to spar with the two of them, much to the still-injured Tim and Damian’s displeasure. “What was what?”

_“Robin.”_ Jason said in false wonderment, spreading his hands in an arc above his head. “Don’t exactly see how that name ties into one like _Batman_.”

“Does flow off the tongue quite nicely, though.” Stephanie added thoughtfully.

Dick smiled. “It wasn’t really supposed to go with Batman. Bruce told me to pick a name, so I went with one personal to me.”

Jason and Stephanie waited in silence.

“It’s what my mother used to call me.”  Dick said softly, features going wistful. “Her little Robin.”

Jason and Stephanie glanced at each other, suddenly feeling slightly guilty.

“Their murders were still pretty fresh when I found out that Bruce was Batman.” Dick continued. “I wanted to honor them, my parents. My mother. Do good in their name. So I stepped out as Robin.”

“That’s…really sweet, Dick.” Stephanie said. “I never knew that.”

“Me either.” Jason muttered, almost offended.

“Bruce thought it was too sentimental.” Dick frowned. “Which makes him passing it on almost…”

He trailed off then, glancing back over his shoulder at Tim and Damian. Stephanie reached across the counter, laying a hand on Dick’s arm. Dick suddenly dropped his head with a sigh.

“I can’t believe Bruce would…” he whispered. “It wasn’t his name to give. It wasn’t his title to pass on.” His gaze was suddenly on Jason, though his head hadn’t moved. “Did he ever give you a choice of anything else?”

Jason shrugged, shying away at the attention. Dick was his ideal, the kind of person he always wanted to be. Always wanted to meet, in his wildest dreams. To be friends with. And now that the opportunity was here, warped as it may be, he just…didn’t know what to do. “Not really, no.”

Dick’s eyes fell once more as he sighed. “I never wanted a legacy. Robin was mine, and mine alone. For my mother. That was my plan. I didn’t intend to pass it on. And I didn’t think Bruce would either.”

His next exhale was quick. Harsh.

“He gave me enough trouble when I said I wanted to help him, you know?” He finally raised his head, looking between Jason and Stephanie. “Didn’t want me out there with him. I thought for my safety. So, I thought, I _figured_ , that when I died? That would be the end of the child sidekick line. No more. Not for Bruce, not for any of the Justice League, not for _anybody_.”

It was Jason who glanced over at Tim and Damian now. Tim was still wrapping Damian’s arm, but slowly. Damian, for once, wasn’t scowling or glaring. Just sitting there silently. Pretending to work so no one caught on. They were listening too.

“So I come back to Gotham after literally going to Hell and back, and what do I find? Not only did he replace me _once_ ,” Dick’s voice was becoming harsher and more angry. Stephanie just held onto his arm. “But he had this… _army_ of children that he was _throwing_ into danger. And all of them under _my_ name!”

“How long have you…you know,” Stephanie said softly. “Been back?”

“Long enough to see him underestimate you, Miss Brown.” A smile flashed across Dick’s face. “That was when I realized something had to be done. When he thought you were dead – and I know, I know, you really weren’t, but all the same – but still let Tim jump right back into the mantle, like it was no big deal.”

Jason noted Tim’s visible flinch.

“But…” Dick suddenly seemed to deflate, leaning further down onto the counter. “By the time I got my shit together, and was able to do anything, Robin had been passed on _again_.” He looked up at Jason. “The night I snuck into the cave, Damian was recovering from Nobody’s attempt to kill him. Bruce’s own flesh and blood, and that’s what he let’s happen to him.”

Silence fell on the room for a few seconds, all of them letting Dick’s words settle in.

“Did you ever think…” Tim started quietly. He wrapped Damian’s arm one more time before cutting the gauze from the roll. “That maybe we chose this?”

“Of course.” Dick didn’t look at him. If anyone walked into the apartment, they wouldn’t even realize Dick and Tim were speaking to each other. “But it should never have been an option in the first place. Not the Robin name, not the choice of being a child vigilante.”

“But it saved us.” Jason tried. “Being Robin.”

“No, it didn’t.” Dick countered. “ _Bruce_ saved you. From living on the streets, from terrible parents, from being an orphan, whatever. He saved you by taking you in, by adopting you as his sons – or daughter, in Cassandra Cain’s case. That’s _all_ he had to do. Be your father – or, Steph, mentor – and love you. That’s it.”

Jason couldn’t argue that. Because that’s what made them all start this, right? They wanted Bruce to love them, or for the man to be happy and protected. Sure, they all kept going for their own reasons, but…well, maybe Dick had a point.

How many times did Jason come home in a rage, because he found one of the others half unconscious in an alleyway due to Penguin or Two-Face? How many times did he get into Bruce’s face because one of their allies was almost killed? How many times did they have to hide or cover up an injury, just so the media wouldn’t find out?

If it were anyone else, Jason and the other vigilantes would be hauling that piece of shit’s ass to prison for child abuse and negligence.

“When I created Robin, I didn’t think this would happen. I never thought it would go this far.” Dick shook his head, turning to stare at Tim and Damian, leaning back against the counter. “But I’ll take the consequences. I’ll take the blame. And I’ll stop it from ever happening again.”

From Jason’s angle, Dick’s face suddenly seemed old and hollow. His eyes had that thousand-yard-stare, the one Jason knew he himself got after a bad or violent night. The one he knew they’ve all had at least once in their career at Batman’s side.

“I’ll do what Bruce won’t. I’ll keep you safe.” Dick pushed off the counter, rubbing Tim’s head as he passed him. He grabbed his gun holster that was hanging off the arm of the sofa, staring blankly down at the weapons. “By any means necessary.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Other Red Hood!Dick stories.](http://fishfingersandjellybabies.tumblr.com/tagged/Redhood%21Dick+au)


End file.
